Growing Dead
by ProjectAuthor
Summary: What's a zombie apocalypse without an alcoholic, abusive, asshole dad? Come find out how this family struggles to survive before and after the infection. Rated M for language and violent situations.
1. 1 Two Weeks In

**(A/N** Kind of new to this and I'm trying something new with this story. If you guys like it please leave a review so I can keep new content out. Having readers motivates me to write more so please be my inspiration! Haha. Enjoy.**)**

**2 weeks in**

_Phil, his wife Barbara, and their two sons Caleb and Riley lived in a small quiet town in southern texas. Their lives were changed forever whenever the outbreak began to spread._

Phil was in his late 30's, tall and a bit overweight. He also had an obvious drinking problem. One night he was in the living room, a beer in one hand and the television remote in the other watching some doctor on the news explain a virus that is spreading through america fast and could be very dangerous.

Barbara, a stressed out loving mother of two who married the wrong asshole, was a few years younger than Phil and could not stand her husband. She places a plate of chicken on the table and begins making everyone's plate.

"Phil! Dinner is done. Get in here so we can eat dinner together," Barbara yells from the kitchen.

Phil takes another swig from his beer before standing up and slowly strolling into the kitchen. "What are we havin'?" he said between belching.

Barb rolls her eyes "What's it look like?" she says as she places a plate in front of both Riley and Caleb. "Enjoy, boys." She adds to the two with a warm smile.

Barbara continued to make Phil a plate and one for her as well before she sat down across from Phil and began eating.

Riley and Caleb were two years apart. Riley was 14 and Caleb was 12. They both looked similar to each other despite Caleb wearing glasses and being a little smaller than Riley. Dirty blond haired healthy boys. They sat next to each other at the table and began eating as well, keeping quietly to themselves as if they just wanted to get it over with so they could get back to their video games.

As the family continued eating, Phil began talking. "I keep seein' more an more about that virus on tv. Sayin people are evacuating their homes and heading north an shit."

Barb takes a bite, chews her food then adds, "Well I've been telling you since last week that we might need to consider leaving. It looks serious Phil. I don't wanna put our boys in danger if we can avoid it."

Phil shakes his head. "I'm tellin' ya like I told ya when those tornados came through, we ain't gonna leave and spend all kind of money on traveling when it's probably just gonna blow right over us. For fucks sake, Barb, we're pretty much in the desert."

Barb puts her fork on her plate and looks at Phil with an annoyed look. "I know where we live at damnit! But over the past two weeks we sat here and watched on the news how this thing has been gettin worse and worse. I don't want to get Riley and Caleb hurt because you're too big of a dumbass to actually listen to the news!"

Phil looks back to Barbara angered. "I told you not to call me a dumbass infront of our boys. I'm their fucking father. They should respect me. How the fuck they gonna know that when you sit here and talk me down?"

Caleb looks up to his older brother and shakes his head. Riley looks back to him and sighs.

"Dad, maybe mom is right. They're sayin' peoples eating each other. We have no idea what this really is. All we get is that local news channel. There could be all kinds of stuff goin on that we don't know about," Riley adds trying to side with his mother.

Phil looks at his oldest son and then back to Barbara. "You see what the fuck I'm talking about?" Phil then looks back to Riley. "Shut the hell up, boy. Next time you think you got something to say, think about it real good so it don't sound stupid."

Riley rolls his eyes leaning back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest.

Phil looks over to him. "You better eat, boy. I'm not gonna tell you again."

Riley sighs as he picks up his fork and begins poking at the food, taking a small bite here and there just so his dad won't snap on him.

"That's what I thought." Phill says to Riley. He then looks to Caleb. "You too. Eat up, son."

Caleb continues eating.

Barbara stands up with her plate and turns away from the table toward the sink, "I'm getting sick and tired of this shit," she said aloud to herself.

Phil glances over to her and raises a brow. "What the fuck you say?"

She turns towards him with balled fist. "I SAID IM SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR SHIT, YOU LOUSY SON OF A BITCH!"

Phill quickly pushes his chair back and stands up, "Boys go to your room."

Riley and Caleb look at each other and then back to their parents, not saying anything.

Phil looks back to the two boys and gestures to the hallway. "NOW!"

Caleb and Riley both stand up but only Caleb goes to the room.

Riley's fist balled up as he watched his dad walk up to his mother and snatch her up by her arms. "Leave her alone!" The brave boy yelled out .

Phil glances back to the boy, not releasing his hold on Barbara. "I said go to your room, Riley."

Riley with flattened brows keeps his eyes on his dad. "NO! I SAID LEAVE HER ALONE!"

Phill releases Barbara by pushing her across the kitchen on to the floor before heading over to Riley. "I told you boy." He snatches Riley up by his arm. Riley tries squirming and jerking free but is unsuccessful. Phil slaps Riley across the face, "You're!" Phill slaps him again, "Gonna!" slaps him again, "RESPECT ME!" Slaps him one more time sending him to the ground.

Riley's lip bleeding and his face swollen up from the strikes. The young boy tries to hold back tears but can't.

Barbara quickly scurries across the floor over to Riley to protect him. "You're a bastard, Phil!" she says sobbing.

Phil turns his back to the two and heads to the refridgerator to get another beer. "Shut you're lying ass up. If it wasn't for me your ass would be on the street selling your pussy to get by."

Barbara lets out a loud sob as she continues crying. Riley fills up with rage knowing he can't do anything to hurt his father.

Phil walks back over to the two with his beer in hand. "Now ya'll get up and finish eating. And you better stop crying, boy." Pointing to Riley. "You're not gonna turn out to be a pussy."

Barbara looks up to Phil and spits in his face. "Fuck you, you fat piece of shit!" Phil instantly slaps her with the beer can, knocking her out cold and sending beer everywhere.

Riley instantly hovers over his mother to check on her. He then looks up to his father. "You asshole!" he screams before jumping up and swinging at the big man with all the strength he had in him. Phil easily pushes Riley off of him. "You hear that?" Riley quickly got back to his feet and began going at his dad again. Phil slaps him across the face knocking him back to the ground. "I said shut the fuck up. Someone's outside." Riley hit the floor and began rubbing his face where he was struck. Then the noise could be heard.

It sounded like an odd knocking noise. It started at one wall and slowly made it's way to the front door. Phil looked back down to Riley with a stern finger, "You stay right fucking there." Phil heads to the door ranting, "Who in their right god damn mind is coming up here this late." As he reaches the door, he places his hand on the knob and quickly swings it open. "Who the fuck are you?" Suddenly Phil comes stumbling back trying to keep a bloodied man from biting at his face.

The man at the door was infected and was desperately trying to get a bite of Phil. Phil throws the infected off of him, "Holy fuck it's one of them!"

Riley rushes to grab his unconscious mother's arms and drag her down the hallway to Caleb's room.

The infected man bounces off the wall only to head towards Phil again.

Riley finally makes it into Caleb's room with his mother. Caleb shocked runs to the door and glances down the hallway. "What's going on out there?" Caleb asks Riley

Riley jerks Caleb back in and slams the door shut. "It's one of those things. Dad is fighting it."

Caleb instantly begins freaking out and tearing up, "What do we do? What do we do?"

Riley locks the door and looks back to Caleb. "We stay in here. We can't leave mom."

Caleb now panicking, "What about dad?"

Riley glances to the door and then back to Caleb with a stern look . . . . **TO BE CONTINUED.**


	2. 2 Open House

**2. Open House**

Riley stares at his younger brother while sounds of his father wrestling with the infected are heard from the hallway. Riley found it hard to decide whether or not he should help his father. He had so much hatred for the man.

Before Riley could make a decision, a single gunshot goes off in the hallway and everything goes quiet.  
Riley and Caleb look at each other, scared of what the noise might indicate. Riley slowly approaches the door and pulls it open enough to look into the hallway.

Suddenly Phil throws himself into the room, slinging the door open and knocking Riley backwards.  
After shutting the door behind him, the boys notice that their dad was covered in blood, holding a smoking pistol.

"We've got to get out of here! Get your mom up." Phil says trying to catch his breath. The large man stood keeping his weight against the door as moans and grunts started to fill the rest of the house.

Riley and Caleb stare at their father unsure of what was going on.

Phil looks at the two, "NOW!"

As the boys tried to wake their mother, Phil struggled trying to keep the door shut and keep the infected out.

"Barb! Get your ass up! We gotta go!" Phil rants impatiently

Riley shakes at his mothers shoulders, "Mom! Get up, Mom!"

Finally Barbara's eyes slightly crack open. As the sounds of moaning and banging sank into her head, her eyes opened widely and she scurried to lean up. "What's going on?!"

Phil continues trying to keep the motivated walkers out, "THEY'RE HERE! GET UP DAMNIT!"

Riley and Caleb help their mom to her feet. Once standing they all look to Phil for further instruction.

"I can't believe this is happening!? Why couldn't we have left last week like I told you, you idiot!" Barbara screams out to Phil.

"This ain't the time to start running your mouth! Riley! Check the window. See if we'll be able to get out of here!"

Riley quickly jumps on the bed to separate the blinds and look out the window."

Caleb sits quietly by his mom, his eyes filling with tears. Barbara wraps an arm around him.

Riley turns back, "There's a few out there , but they're heading towards the front!"

Phil glances around the room, "Riley, you and Caleb bring that bed over here"

The boys rush to the bed to move stuff out of the way of the bed.

"Hurry the fuck up! I bet the whole god damn house is full of them sons'a bitches."

Riley and Caleb get the bed away from the wall and ready to push infront of the door whenever their father moved out of the way.

"Alright. On three I'm gonna move and we need to get that bed against this door as soon as possible, boys." Phil states.

Barbara walks up and pushes Caleb out of the way. "Move, baby. Stay away from the door. I'll handle this."

Phil begins counting. "One. . . . . . . Two. . . . . THREE!"

Phil quicky steps away from the door, only for the door to begin opening from the infected on the other side. Riley and barbara instantly push the bed against the door, slamming it shut with a walker's hand in the jam. The wrist preventing the door from closing, Barbara and Riley kept the applying force to keep the door as closed as possible.

Barbara looks at the hand hanging in the door jam and cringes, "Oh my god!"

Riley and Caleb glance and quickly look away.

Phil, now at the window has the blinds open and begins opening the window up. He looks back to his family and points his finger at the three of them. "Ya'll stay quiet. We don't want them to hear us. And Riley, make sure that door stays shut!" he says in a quiet tone.

Riley nods as his large father attempted to squeeze through the window first. Phil stuffs his upper half through the window first, then raising his legs to allow him to fall out of the window. The window was a tight fit around the large man's body, but he was able to make it through.

"Phil you're a piece of shit." Barbara whispers through the window outside to Phil. She then turns to Caleb. "Come on, honey. We've got to go."

Caleb, scared and horrified by the whole situation, just shivers up. "I don't want to! There are more of them out there! Why can't we just stay here!"

Phil looks in the window from the outside where he tries to stay low and avoid the sight of walkers. "What the fuck is going on in there!? We gotta fucking go now!"

Riley keeps his weight against the bed that was keeping the shut. "Come on, Caleb! We don't have time for this!" Riley says to his brother.

Barbara brings her hand to rest on Caleb's back as she leads him to the window. "Don't be scared. Everything is going to be alright."

Caleb wipes away his tears and crawls through the window to meet his father on the otherside.

Barbara looks back to Riley. "It's your turn, honey. Come on."

Riley looks to his mom shaking his head. "You go first mom. Then I can just jump out the window."

Barbara shakes her head. "Riley, I said come on. This isn't a negotiation."

Riley cringes his teeth and moves away from the door and towards the window. Barbara moves past him to hold the bed against the door as walkers continue to try and get through.

Riley hops into the window ceil and glances back to his mom one last time before hopping onto the ground outside.

Phil, constantly looking in all directions, looks back into the window. "Barbara! Move your ass!"

Riley and Caleb stay next to each other in crouched positions, looking towards the front of the house where walker's were entering.

Barbara moves away from the bed and heads towards the window. As soon as she turns her back to the door, it barges open, plunging the headboard into her back. She hit the ground instantly having the breath knocked out of her. Her legs were numb and as soon as she tried to get up, she realized she couldn't. She was instantly paralyzed. The walkers begin filling the room and getting closer to her disabled body. She was in such pain and shock she couldn't even speak. She lied there, staring into the ceiling through cold eyes. Too numb to do anything but let a single tear run down her cheek as the infected swarmed over her body

. . . . . **TO BE CONTINUED**


	3. 3 A Broken Family

**3. A Broken Family**

Most of the geeks in the area were entering the house through the front while the family exited through Caleb's bedroom window on the side. Phil stood outside the window, watching the boys and keeping an eye out for any geeks while they waited for Barbara to exit. Phil finally turns to the window to see the entire room full of the undead. His wife was no where in site. After looking around the room for his spouse, he noticed the group of infected were chewing on her remains in the middle of the floor.

"No," he utters quietly in shock. "NOOO!" he then screams inside the window before raising his pistol and unloading the entire clip into the group of walkers.

Riley and Caleb close their eyes at the sound of gunshots, becoming more frightened about the whole situation.

The group of infected absorb the bullets Phil shot. Phil was only able to take out one with a headshot and attracting the rest with from the gunshots.

Phil stood there and stared into the room full of dead, staring at his wife's mutilated body, ignoring the infected that began to approach the window from the inside. Tears began to fill his eyes.

Riley and Caleb slowly walk towards the window to the sight that made their father so upset. The two boys instantly begin crying.

The walkers inside the house reach the window and begin reaching out for Phil.

Phil uses his shoulder to whipe away the tears from his eyes before taking a step back.

More infected suddenly begin pouring from around the house.

Phil notices the infected and knew he had to get the boys out of there. He stuffs the pistol back in his pants and grabs the two boys arm and begins leading them away from the house.

The broken family rushes through the neighbors backyard then on in to the next, desperately trying to get away from the group of walker's that took over their property.

After running for most of the night, the family finally comes to a stop at small barn. The sun was shining and all three of them were exhausted and struck with fear.

Phil throws his back against the outside of the barn, sliding down it to rest on the ground.

"We gotta stop. I can't walk anymore," Phil utters trying to catch his breath.

The two boys, breathing hard as well, follow their father in sitting down to take a break.

A few moments of silence pass before Caleb breaks out in tears.

Riley rests a hand on Caleb's shoulder, trying to comfort his younger brother. He wanted to tell him everything will be ok, but he couldn't tell him that. Not after what happened to their mother. Instead, Riley remained quiet, unsure of what to say either of them.

Phil watches his two sons and soon begins crying too.

"I'm sorry, Barbara! I'm so sorry," he weeps.

Caleb begins crying harder.

Riley looks at his father and then his brother. His mother was gone. The only parent he cared for was no longer alive. He shook his head, trying to resist breaking out into tears himself. His brother and him were now stuck with their impulsive father. At that moment, Riley knew things were only going to get worse.

The family sat there against the barn for awhile, greiving the loss of their loved one. After some time passes, Phil begins looking around the barn for the entrance.

"Ya'll get over here," the father yells to his sons.

The two slowly get up and stroll over to their dad.

"The place is empty," he says swinging the door open to the barn. "We'll stay here tonight."

The portly man walks into the barn and begins looking around.

The barn was full of dust and old farming equipment. It had obviously been empty for a while due to a large bail of hay rested that looks like it was no longer worthy of feeding to animals. There was one single door to get in and out, and two large doors on another wall that allowed room for a tractor to enter.

Once taking everything in, he heads towards the bail of hay and begins pulling out handful to make a spot for him to sleep.

Riley and Caleb on the other hand, was observing the barn a bit more thorough than their father.

Riley's eyes land a scythe. He slowly reaches for before being interrupted by his father.

"Riley. Watch your brother. And neither one of ya'll better take your asses out this barn or I'll kill ya," Phil commands before rolling over on his make-shift bed and going to sleep.

Riley looks at Caleb and motions for him to follow. Riley leads his brother into a corner away from their father.

"Caleb, don't worry about any of this ok. I know it's hard, but we're not safe yet. You need to be strong, alright? I'm gonna be strong for you and I promise nothing is going to happen to you," he whispers to Caleb, glancing over to his sleeping father to make sure he wasn't listening.

Caleb nods. "She's gone, Bubba."

Riley frowns, "I know."

Caleb sheds a few tears before Riley hugs him.

"You gotta be strong, Caleb. Dad is crazy and. . . I'm not sure if he knows what he's doing right now. If anything happens to him. . . We're on our own."

Caleb looks up to him wiping away a few tears.

"Why couldn't they have got him instead?"

Riley shakes his head, "I don't know. . But I wish they would've."


End file.
